The Dominant Species
by TheLostArcheaologist
Summary: Yellow Diamond learns of the dominant species on the new colony planet, and makes a decision.


The diamond council ruled the Gem homeworld system, and as a result, the Council Room was appropriately grand. When full councils were in session Quartz guards of every variety would stand at the doors, and at least two guarded each Diamond. Pearls would practically line the curved walls of the room, and Sapphires would stand ready to analyze and advise the rulers.

Today was not a full council day, much to the relief of the petitioner. To the left was the vacant throne of Blue Diamond, she who managed the day-to-day affairs of gem production and harvesting of those less fortunate than to find their place in society. To the right was White Diamond's place; she was busy with other affairs as the arbiter of day-to-day life of homeworld Gems. Behind was the throne of Pink Diamond, she who ever expanded the Gem Empire, she who found the new worlds from which new gems would spring forth, she whose throne was sadly, possibly forever vacant, due to the traitorous actions of one Rose Quartz.

The throne in front was the only throne occupied, and attended by a handful of Pearls. Yellow Diamond, the warrior queen of the Gem Empire surveyed the dais that served as the Petitioners' Floor, her eyes boring deeply into whichever poor gem was addressing the council.

In the center of the room, poor Pallasite shuddered involuntarily and fiddled with her limb enhancers.

"Begin your report," Yellow Diamond prompted, a frozen, unreadable expression on her face.

"Y-yes, Yellow Diamond," Pallasite replied, and activated her screens. "The life on the colony world, as we discovered from earlier surveys of the planet, consists of carbon-based self-reproducing bioforms derived from a common ancestor. Most motile bioforms are predators- that is, they need to consume other bioforms in order to survive. The dominant native species on the colony world is a highly specialized hairless pursuit predator descended from a small group of grassland dwelling 'apes.' Their population as of gem arrival is approximately 45 million and growing. They don't seem to have a breeding season like many of the other species on their planet, and they can reproduce about once for each of their planet's orbits."

"Ah, they must be an aquatic species to be so numerous," Yellow Diamond cooed melodiously.

"Um, no," Pallasite uttered as she twiddled her limb enhancer absentmindedly. "They are terrestrial, actually."

"Terrestrial?" Yellow Diamond's face did not change, but her tone hardened.

"Yes. They are incapable of aquatic locomotion unassisted for long, though they have been known to build boats and barges for travel or hunting purposes."

"Boats."

"Yes. Generally from the nearly ubiquitous woody plants that grow nearly everywhere on the planet's surface. They sometimes propel them with planks made from the woody plants, or stretch skins or sheets of woven fibers across posts, and take advantage of their planet's inconsistent atmosphere." Yellow Diamond's persistent silence pressed in on Pallasite, and a few long moments passed as she tried to resist her urge to fill it with fear-derived chatter. "They are genetically quite similar to another species of tool-using ape, so it is not exactly a surprise."

"Mhm." Yellow Diamond's face remained icy. "Continue."

"Ahem, yes. As I said, they evolved as pursuit predators, so their stamina outmatches nearly every animal on the planet, except for those that they bred specifically for aiding them in hunting. It's rather like… like Olivine class gems. These furry predatorial quadrupeds, or 'dogs' as some of them are called are very closely related to 'wolves', which is still widely known amongst the dominant species as a predator. At some point within the last fifteen to twenty glints*, they began to domesticate them."

"Forty five million of these apes. With dogs. Hunting."

"Er, no. Not exactly. You see, after they domesticated these dogs, some of them did the same with plants and the creatures they used to hunt. Most of the population has been farming- raising bioforms and selectively reproducing bioforms with desired traits for the express purpose of consumption- for ten glints."

"Some of the terms you are using to describe these creatures and their world I am unfamiliar with. How did you devise them?"

"I- I didn't." The limb enhancer began to turn over slowly. "Th-the apes, or 'mann' as some of them call themselves, have language abilities remarkably similar to our own. They do not have a single universal language, or even a single universal culture, but many of them don't seem to see that as a detriment. Some of them know more than one language."

"Communicative, but inconsistent, even within the species."

"Yes. Though honestly that may be due to the climatic conditions and the terrain of the planet. Small populations of 'mann' can be isolated, and they will tend to form their own social groups and structure. As a result, their language will often change in response to the conditions around them. For example, a mann living in the equatorial region of the planet may not have a word that describes solid water while one in higher latitudes would, but she would have other words to describe the local flora and fauna that a higher latitude mann may not."

"And this… farming? I assume the bioforms they cultivate have to be the same."

"They have similarities, but mann as a species adapts well to its local environment, and can change its diet in order to thrive in any given location on the planet." At this, Pallasite paused. She hardly believed this next part herself, but it was her duty to try and explain it to Yellow Diamond. "Some of the things they eat are borderline toxic to their own systems. They distill and consume ethanol in high enough concentrations to be used as a microbicide or solvent to the point where they disrupt normal brain function as a recreational activity, because it is reasonably safer than drinking microbe infested water for them. Some populations of mann have also selectively bred plants that produce a chemical similar to fire salt as a defense mechanism so that each individual fruit has _more_ of this chemical, even though it is apparently quite painful to eat."

" _Why?"_

"Unknown. It appears that some mann _like_ it."

The silence was palpable, cut only by Yellow Diamond's eyes. Pallasite couldn't read her face, but knew that something was turning around in her head. She decided to press on. "P-perhaps it's a mark of social standing- they are social bioforms, after all. And they have unusually effective abilities to recover from injuries. They are not as durable as, say, a quartz, but they have a remarkable capability to heal any harm that does not kill them outright. S-sometimes a mann will make ornamental use of her healing abilities, either by piercing her skin with bone, wood, or metal and allowing themselves to heal around the intrusion, or by injecting pigments directly into the skin; it is hypothesized to be a permanent physical mark of the ability to heal from distress. The results are rarely as good as a full gem regeneration, but a mann can shatter her internal support structure, lose limbs, sense organs, and sometimes even internal organs, and can live out her days relatively normally after a recovery period."

"That is surely rare. What good is something so broken?"

Pallasite fiddled with her limb enhancer a bit more furiously. "When… ah… a mann is ill or injured in such a way, her social group will usually look after her until she recovers."

"Look after her."

"Yes. Occasionally, a mann may even discover something that speeds the regeneration process. Not often, but it happens, and it's usually shared beyond the group."

"But what of the individual mann's function in the group?"

"W-well, the mann do not have a society quite like ours."

"Ah. Primitive still."

"It's… mann do not have…" Pallasite sighed. "Individual mann may look different from one another, but that does not necessarily mean that one can not fulfill the same role as another. An individual warrior can take command if her commander falls in battle. When there is no conflict, warriors will farm, build structures, explore, and make tools in order to survive. And _any_ mann will take up arms to defend herself if attacked, no matter what her role in society would be under normal conditions."

Something in Yellow Diamond's face seemed to change, though her expression remained cautiously immobile.

"Ahem. Their civilization groups are often... turbulent, hence the need for warriors. But they have advanced mathematics. Symbolic communication. Metalsmithing. Sciences- most of them have some concept of their planet's orbital mechanics, and at least one group has proposed the existence of atoms. Oh, and engineering, especially when it comes to transportation- they build amazing structures from the planet's native rock. In fact, on the large continent, some mann are experimenting with phosphorus based explosives, and attempting to apply them to a means of propulsion. Others are experimenting with lighter than air flight-"

A dreadful screeching noise filled the chamber. Yellow Diamond, wearing the same expression as she had the entire time Pallasite was speaking, looked down at the armrest on her throne. Her sharp fingers had carved four razor-thin parallel lines as she had clenched her fist.

Pallasite stopped fiddling with the limb enhancer. She'd babbled on too much. There was no point in being nervous anymore; she'd be harvested for sure now.

Instead, Yellow Diamond stood and motioned to a Pearl, who reached into her gem to bring forth a data crystal. "Thank you, Pallasite; your information has proven most valuable. I fear at this time, this planet is no longer a viable Gem colony. Your services, though, have not gone unnoticed, and they will not be unrewarded."

The Pearl presented Pallasite with the data crystal. "Take this crystal to Topaz in the Advanced Fusion Tactics division, and tell her that you have been reassigned to The Cluster. Follow her orders to the letter; you have done a great service for homeworld, and you will continue to do so for many glints to come."

"Thank you, Yellow Diamond! Thank you!" Pallasite accepted the gem as though it would crumble into dust at any moment, and exited the room, bowing all the way. "You won't regret it! Thank you!"

As the technician departed, Yellow Diamond traced the lines she had carved in her throne. This would not do. When the planet had first been scouted, the species in question, mann, was hardly more technologically advanced than the tool using apes they had descended from. And here, a few glints later, they had spread like a conchoidal fracture across their world, and they were beginning to extend their reach into their own atmosphere. How long would it be before they expanded it further?

The Cluster was an untested fusion weapons prototype, yes. It would take several glints to not only commence, but come to fruition. And should anyone learn of it, it might have some… complications here on homeworld. But after learning of mann, it was a small price to eliminate the threat they would inevitably pose. Wiping out any resistance that might be posed by Rose Quartz and her army of bioform-loving abominations only added to the reasons why its use was warranted.

The Pallasite would soon be in no condition to inform any Gem of the situation on the colony world, or of Yellow Diamond's response- no Gem would, she corrected herself. She did so hate to waste the Pearls… but such situations as these, when sensitive information could be distributed to the homeworld system at large, was precisely why she only kept a few at a time. She gave the order, and out they marched, completely compliant. She had no doubt they would shatter themselves in front of Topaz and give themselves to the Cluster.

Still, glancing at the lines in the arm of her throne, she was unable to stop thinking of such a terrible species at large in the galaxy. Resilient, adaptable, fast reproducing, capable of group or individual thought and action. And _learning_ so quickly. Such a creature would not only destroy the Gem Empire's supremacy in the galaxy, but it might destroy Gem-kind itself. Forfend the thought of them allied with Rose and the other misfits, for whom shattering would be too good.

Yellow Diamond stood; she had duties to attend, more Pearls to acquire, and more petitioners to hear. And she should really do something about the scratch she had made in her throne, it was unseemly to be so upset and lose control like that. But she would handle it, she always did. Grind off the hard edges here, shine another facet there, and the Gem homeworld would turn like nothing ever marred it. She left the council room, the Pallasite's report already fading from her mind.

*Glint- Gem term for a period of time lasting approximately a thousand Earth years.


End file.
